Blue Violet: Excerpt #3 – Family Project

This is my final excerpt post before I publish the book. I am on my final round of clean up edits with Wendy, my editor, this week, and hope (fingers crossed) to have the book published sometime the week of August 20th!!!!

So without further ado, here’s the final excerpt:

“Well, at least they picked a nice place to live,” a low voice grumbled.

Ellie jumped and let out a little yelp. Then she turned to see her twin brother standing by the back door. “You came!” she squealed as she flung herself into his arms.

Griffin hugged her back, his bronze muscular body engulfing Ellie’s petite frame. His golden blond hair, cropped shorter than the current trend, was a stark contrast to Ellie’s long, ebony locks. To look at the two of them together, one would never think they were related, let alone twins. When they were little, their mother had teasingly dubbed them Artemis and Apollo after the sibling Greek gods associated with the moon and the sun, the night and the day.

Griffin pulled back and regarded her silently with solemn concern clouding his tawny, almost leonine eyes. With a sigh of frustration, he glanced away.

“I won’t have anything to do with these people, Ellie,” he eventually replied. “But I also won’t leave you alone. You’re the only family I’ve got.” His expression was resigned as he added, “I guess you counted on that fact.”

“No… but I hoped. You know things just don’t work without you, Griff.” She gave him another big hug to emphasize her words. “I’m so glad you decided to come. And I won’t push you to get involved with my… little project.”

Leading him out of the kitchen into the main floor of the house, Ellie couldn’t keep the chuckle out of her voice as she pointed and said, “Your room’s right down that hall…the master bedroom.”

“Nice pick for the house, Sis,” he said as he moved toward where she’d pointed.

“Hey, it’s cozy,” she called after him. “And it’s bigger than it looks on the outside.”

The three story house appeared to be deceptively small, and because it sat fairly high up on the hill, it had an unhindered view of the entire valley. There was a spacious wrap-around porch from which to enjoy the beautiful scenery, but with all the snow, Ellie hadn’t spent much time out there yet. Even so, she’d caught glimpses of the wildlife from the panoramic windows, including some elk and even a bear. It was quaint, comfy, and unlike any place she’d lived. Which was saying something given how long she’d been alive. Ellie adored it.

Returning to the kitchen, Ellie choked back a laugh when she heard her sibling’s low grumble of annoyance. When she’d moved in a few weeks ago, she’d set up his room exactly as she knew he’d want it, hoping Griffin couldn’t stay away too long. At the sound of his footsteps in the hall, she swiftly hid her amusement.

“So, Griff, what are you planning to do while we’re here?”

He took a seat at one of the three stools at the bar situated between the kitchen and the dining room. Reaching for a bowl of candy he popped a couple into his mouth.

“Why do I have a terrible feeling that you’ve already got something lined up for me?” Griffin eyed his sister suspiciously.

She threw him an innocent look over her shoulder. “Not really.”

“What’s your set up?”

She lowered her gaze and grimaced. “I’m a student at the high school…Again. Today was my first day, actually.”

Griffin’s eyebrows shot up. “Why on Earth would you do that willingly?”

“Three of the people in the family still attend high school—”

Griffin held up his hands. “Forget it. I don’t want to know.”

“There’s too much I need to tell you,” Ellie confessed, shaking her head.

“Jeez, Elle,” he growled. “You’ve only been at school one day. How much trouble could you get into in that amount of time?”